Over 100 people turned out to watch the exterior wall of Burnham-On-Sea’s Princess Theatre transformed into a giant ‘cinema screen’ for a unique outdoor film showing on Easter Sunday.
Local arts group Ignite Somerset has worked with artists, children and young people to create digital art designed for large-scale projection, which was shown during the first event of its kind in Burnham.
“The theatre was chosen as it’s an iconic building within Burnham and it’s also a lovely canvas for us to project onto,” organiser Natalie Collings told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“There were some specifically made projections for the Burnham area and also a collection of images and different work created over the project from other parts of the county. It was a celebration of local and county-wide creativity. The projections themselves were looped so there were more than one viewing.”
“We projected from The Skills and Learning Centre, who have been very helpful in letting us use the space in front of their building.”
Projectionist Richard Tomlinson is pictured above with artist Mary Thompson, illustrator Lorna Siviter, Deb Richardson of The Engine Room and Town Centre Manager Bev Milner Simonds before Sunday’s event.
Lorna, whose work was featured during the screening, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I grew up in Burnham so this theatre is special to me. It was therefore really great to see my work shown for the first time on the side of the building – I chose a morse code theme to present the towns of Somerset due to the historical link with the Highbridge radio station.”
The event saw visitors given headphones to listen to the music accompanying the visual art. Among the spectators was Princess Theatre Chairman Peter Burridge-Clayton, above, and his family.
Burnham’s Town Centre Manager Bev Milner Simonds said: “It was very exciting to welcome Somerset Film to Burnham to project onto The Princess Theatre. This was something really different for the town. The facade of the theatre is very large and to see it brought to life with moving images created by local artists was brilliant.”
The event ran alongside the FolkFest fundraiser that also took place at The Princess Theatre throughout Easter Sunday.
The screening was overseen by Ignite Somerset, a project managed by Somerset Film and funded by Arts Council England. The project aims to provide opportunities for artists to explore the creative potential of digital technology.
